VIDEO: Three Emiratis rescue seven tourists stranded in RAK Mountain
One of the Emirati men poses for a photograph with the tourists.
Three UAE citizens rescued seven tourists after they got stuck and stranded on a high-altitude mountain (about 1,800 meters above sea level) on Friday. They reportedly got lost on rugged mountain paths.
The brave men who rescued the tourists were Abdulaziz Ahmad Mansour Al Shehhi, 47, Mohammed Abdullah Khamis Al Shehhi, 35, and Mohammad Saeed Shahbar Al Shehhi, 30, all from Wadi Ghalila.
Abdulaziz Al Shehhi, who led the rescue team, said the stranded tourists were four men and three women, from Lebanon, Turkey, Iran and Portugal.
He explained that the tourists' journey began at 7 am last Friday, as they were heading to Wadi Ghalila 35 km north of Ras Al Khaimah to practice hiking.
Abdulaziz and his companions found the seven tourists stranded in a mountain site called "Al Kabs", at an altitude of about 1,800 metres. This was after the people of Wadi Ghalilah had received information about tourists being stranded at about 8:00 pm on Friday.
“We took the initiative to rescue the tourists voluntarily, after we learned about the incident through a “social media group” of the people of the region,” Abdulaziz added.
The rescue operation continued for about 4 hours, in communication and coordination with the Ras Al Khaimah Police, who were at the site.
For his part, Mohammad Saeed Shahbar Al Shehhi said, “We started our mission by searching for the "coordinates", which we found later, to help us locate the tourists stranded in the mountain, then we moved at about 11:00 pm towards the steep and rugged mountains. The seven tourists were found trapped and unable to find the way back or to descend from the mountain.”
“We were able to find them after 12:00 am. They were in a terrible state, and suffering from severe fatigue. We provided them with water and "sticks" that we, the people of the mountain tribes, use to help descent the mountain,” he added.
Al Shehhi said, “We arrived at the plains region at about 2:00 am after midnight, after a difficult and arduous two-hour trip in the ruggedness and solitude of the mountain heights and complete darkness.”
The ambulance then transferred them to hospital, he added.
